Inserted-center railway crossing



W. G. NICHOLS.

I INSERTED CENTER RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED .IAN.2J,1922.

l ,41279 122, l Patented Aug. 29, 1922..

narran "raras iidviqldvf WESLEY Gr. NC-IOLS, OF CHICAG, LLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN MANGANESE STEEL COMPANY, OF CHCAGU, ILLNS, ACORPORATION OF TIIAXNE.

INSERTED-CENTER .RAILVVY CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latented Ang. 29, 1922.

Application filed January 25, 1922. Serial No. 531,527.

To all whom. t may concern I Be it known that l, Vllnsnnr (i. NrorioLs,a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Inserted-Center Railway Crossings, of which thefollowing is a specification.

llhis invention relates to railway crossings in which the treads and theguards of two intersecting rails, at the crossing point, are formed of asingle piece inserted in the crossing structure, and is intendedprimarily for use in inserted centers formed of manganese steel. v

The object of the .invention is to support the insert in a manner tobetter enable it to withstand the shocks incurred in service, and alsoto better insure it against unintentional release of its securing means.

The invention consists in supporting` the insert through means whichleave it in substantially a floating status, so that a considerableportion of shock, in excess of that required for overcoming the inertiaof the piece, will be absorbed by a slight yielding of the` insert; themeans for iioating the insert being also utilized to maintain thesecuring means against displacement which would release the insert; anda shock absorbing support, preferably in the form of a laminated sheetmetal cushion, being provided in such relation to the insert as to limitthe yielding movement through a cushioning resistance.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, the preferredembodiment there of will be described in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a crossinghaving an insert constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2*-2* of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the insert on a reduced scale; and

Figure 4c is a section on the line 41h-4X of Figure 1.

1 represents a frame designed to unite with four rails of a crossingintersecting at an angle of 90o, but it may obviously be designed forother angles of crossing.

Frame 1 is provided with a central recess 2 that receives an insert 3with sufficient freedom to permit said insert to be introduced andremoved at will, and also to move vertically within the recess while inservice. insert 3 is constructed with marginal sustaining walls 4i,shown in section in Fig. 2 and in bottom plan in Figure 3, which largelysustain loads imposed upon the insert, and in addition thereto it mayhave diagonal cross walls 5 beneath its flange grooves 6, and thereforein such relation to its treads 7 and guards 8 as to strengthen thelatter against the loa-dof passing wheels.

The side walls 4i and diagonal walls 5 (when the latter are employed)preferably terminate below in the same horizontal plane, so that theyall rest upon a laminated sheet metal cushion 9 confined in the recess2, and of such thickness that they will receive the vertical loadimposed upon the insert 3 with very little lost motion of said insert.

Protruding laterally from the insert 3, and preferab y inpositionsintermediate of flange grooves 6, are supporting ears 10 inposition to be sustained by springs 11 rest ing upon lugs or othersuitable faces provided on the frame 1 and adapted to present. theinsert 3 normally in av floating or ap-A proximately floating status. ltis not necessary that springs 11 be of sufficient strength to sustainany material part of the load imposed upon the insert; they may bedesigned merely to overcome the normal weight of the insert and hold itup so as to keep under tension, or at least sustained against materialdepression, bolts 13 which secure the insert against verticaldisplacement. Bolts 13 are preferably provided with T-heads 14 adaptedto pass through slots 15 in the lugs 12, and are confined in seats 16 onthe underside of the lugs when the heads are turned 90O to the seats 16;and on their upper ends saidA bolts are provided with securing nuts 17which may be adjusted to depress the insert 3 in opposition to springs1l until the insert assumes exactly the desired level. Adjustment ofnuts 17 may be retained in any desired way, as, for inst-ance, bypouring spelter or other filling material in the undercut cavities 18surrounding said nuts. ln this construction, the springs 11 become themeans for keeping the bolts under tension and preventing displacement ofthe heads 14 from their seats 16, in addition to the previouslydescribed function of iioating the insert.

The insert is preferably polygonal in form (in the selected embodiment,square), andthe flange grooves, treads, and guards run from corner tocorner, thereby presenting the edges 19 of the insert at an angle to theline of travel, and causing the bearing line of the wheel to bridge thespace at 19 insteady of dropping into the same, and the securing andsupporting ears project from sides of the polygon, or symmetrically onopposite sides of each wheel-receiving point so .that the wheel impactis divided between them. y

I do not herein claim the feature of floating the insert. by means ofthe laminated sheety metal cushion 9, as this constitutes thesubject-matter ofv claims in my application,

y Serial No. 499,762, of earlier filing date.

I claim:

1. In a railway crossing, a frame, a crossing'insert-mounted in said.frame, .cushioning means .adapted to absorb loads imposed on saidyinsert, and means independent of said cushioning means for floating saidinsert;

2. In a railway crossing, a frame, an insert'mounted in said frame andmovable verticallyrelatively thereto, means for limitin verticaldepression of the insert inthe frame, and independent means for floatingthe insert in said frame.

3. In a railway crossing, a frame, an in sert mounted insaid frame,bolts for retaining said insert, and resilient means adapted to sustainthe normal load of the insert, tending todisplace it against theretention of its bolts.

downwardly extending supporting walls resilient means located under saidsupporting walls, ears projecting from said insertJ beyond saidsupporting walls, means y@M gagiug said ears to secure the insertagainst vertical displacement, and resilient means acting upwardlyagainst said ears in opposition to said securing means.

G. ln a railway crossing, a frame, an insert in said frame comprising ahorizontal upper wall having intersecting trackage extending across it,and intersecting walls depending vertically therefrom beneath saidtrackage, and adapted to enter intovertical bearing to support saidhorizontal wall.

7. An insert for railway crossings, comprising a horizontal upper wallhaving intersecting tracliage across it, marginal walls dependingvertically from about the perim eter ofl said horizontal wall, andintersecting walls bridging the space between said marginal wallsdepending vertically beneath said traclrage and adapted to enterinto'bear ing upon the same surface with said marginal walls Signed atChicago, Illinois, this SOth'day of December, 1921. Y l

w. e. NicHoLs.

